Tom Dunne's review of Zach Bryan in Dublin: 'Great fun and the music was a revelation'
Zach Bryan in concert at the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney
“Who is Zach Bryan?” is suddenly the question of the hour. And how is he second only to Taylor Swift for music streams in Ireland and now playing to 180,000 people over three nights at the Phoenix Park? Is he the new Pope?
I am despatched to find out. In preparation I dive into Zach world. It is a revelation. The voice, the words, the songwriting, the guests, the storytelling. Where has this boy been all my life?
It is American Country, of a type. There are references to his “daddy’s ford”, drinking whiskey, playing pool and nostalgia for a time gone by. The message is simple: The further South you go, the better things get.
But these songs are written by a man familiar with Bon Iver’s and Bruce Springsteen's Two of his albums start with poems. You can tell he is in thrall to words and cadence and writing.
It’s quite a schlep to the venue and along the way, there are cowboy boot malfunctions everywhere. By the time I get there, it’s all starting. There are girls in cowboy hats, cowboy boots, short skirts and waist coats. It looks like a massive Memphis-themed hen party. Average age, early twenties.
The number of Northern accents is striking. The audience is, I’m told, mostly from the West and the North, with only 10% of ticket sales in Dublin.
Bryan is 29. He spent eight years in the American navy. His mum died of alcohol related health issues when in 2019. He released his first album, named in her honour that year. Since then, it’s been four more albums, Grammys and number ones.
Zach on stage is a gentle, mannerly, good looking guy with great songs and great players. There are fiddles a go go. and sound like songs you’ve always known, beautiful, timeless, evocative. The audience know every word.
He seems to have gone to the level Bruce is at here without the intervening 40 years. A tricolour is passed to the stage. “I love you guys, I love you Dublin” he tells us repeatedly. It as if we have always been there for him, except of course.
Being older than his demographic, I probably pick up on a few influences they might miss: There’s a hint of Steve Earle to it, a dollop of Gram Parsons, particularly in the image area, Nudie suits can’t be far off here. And then there’s Warren Zevon.
He plays Warren’s a song so perfect for 2025 it could have been written yesterday. The audience are eating out of his hands. There are sing along songs but many more have a gentle sadness to them.
“A lot of sad in the songs?” I say to a girl in a cowboy hat.
“Ah sad is good, ya know,” she tells me. No argument there.
I come away with more questions that answers. The sheer speed with which people become huge these days. The sheer range of influences they can quietly absorb. And how did this guy get so good so fast?
